Flush car door



June 3 JQE. LINDEMAN 2,045,154

FLUSH CAR DOOR Filed Feb. 29, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Bv-Tx J. E. LINDEMAN FLUSH CAR DOOR Fame 23, 1936 Fi led Feb. 29, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet2 ET'IY June 23, 1936. J. E. LINDEMAN FLUSH CAR DOOR FiledFeb. 29, 1952SJSheets-Sheet 5 Z/A/l/E/V TOE Jan 55 E. L/NDEMH/V Patented June 23,1936 UNETED STATES FLUSH CAR DOOR James E. Lindeman, Chicago, 111.,assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Youngstown Steel Door Company,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 29, 1932,Serial No. 595,843

16 Claims.

This invention rel-ates to doors for railway cars and concerns itselfmore particularly with flush car doors for refrigerator cars adapted tohave lateral and longitudinal sliding movements relative thereto.

slidable doors for refrigerator cars employing vertical bars, providedat their ends with. crank portions for effecting lateral movement ofsuch doors from and into door openings formed in the sides of said cars,are known. The doors are usually supported from these bars which, inturn, are sustained by hangers provided with rolling means havingsliding movement upon a supporting track. In this type of door the endsof the crank portions of the bars are maintained against lateralmovement relative to the car so that upon operation of said bars themain portions thereof, together with the door, move laterally away fromthe car side, the door being removed from its opening so as to becapable of sliding movement to open position. It is manifest that thelength of each crank portion of the bars must be slightly in excess ofhalf the depth of the part of the door received within the door openingto insure movement of said part of the door completely out of itsopening. This requires positioning of the supporting track and the meansto which the ends of the crank portions are secured a considerabledistance from the car side witha resultant encroachment upon the tunnelclearance line, rendering the doors ineffective. The foregoing isparticularly true of flush doors.

This invention has for an object the provision of slidable doors forrefrigerator cars having bars provided with crank portions for movingsaid doors laterally with respect to said cars wherein the ends of saidcrank portions are supported by means having substantially less extentoutwar-dly of said car than heretofore utilized.

A further object is the provision of slidable doors for refrigeratorcars having bars provided with crank portions positioned, respectively,above and below said doors and effective to move said doors laterallypartially out of their door openmgs.

A further object is to provide slidable doors for refrigerator carsadapted to the received within openings provided in said cars, saiddoors having lateral displacement parallel to said cars during itsinitial movement and swinging displacement relative to said cars in thecompletion of its movement.

A further object is to provide slidable doors for refrigerator carsadapted to be received within door openings provided in said cars andhaving one or more vertical operating bars movable bodily laterallyrelative to said cars.

A further object is to provide doors for refrigerator cars supportedupon tracks for lateral and. longitudinal movement relative to said carsand provided with operating bars capable of vertical 7 movement toengage and disengage said track.

Other objects will become apparent as the description of the inventionproceeds.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a refrigeratorcar embodying the door of the instant invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on line 22 of Figure 1. V

Figure 3 is a vertical section similar to Figure 2, showing the door inopen position in front of the door opening.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the right hand portion ofthe door and of the car adjacent thereto, showing the intermediate andfinal positions assumed by the door when moved from closed to openposition.

Figure 7 is a broken enlarged view of one of the operating bars.

Figure 8.is a plan View of the top crank portion of the operating bar.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary view of the operating bar looking toward theleft in Figure 7 and. showing the position of the pivotally supportedolevis of the crank portion and the door shown in dot and dash lines infull open position.

Figure 10 is a horizontal section taken on line Ill-H1 of Figure '7.

Figure 11 is a horizontal section taken on line H|| of Figure '7.

Figure 12 is an end elevation of a door hanger, showing the swingablearm thereof.

Figure 13 is .a horizontal section taken on line l3|3 of Figure 12.

Figure 14 is a plan view of the door bracket employed adjacent the lefthand end'of the door.

Figure 15 is an elevation of the bracket shown in Figure 14.

Figure 16 is a plan view of the right hand bracket.

Figure 17 is an elevation of the bracket shown in Figure 16.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of theinvention, there is shown a car door Ill adapted to be received in itsentirety within a door opening I I provided in the side of arefrigerator car 12. Both the car and. the door may be insulated in anydesired manner. The door opening which tapers inwardly is providedaround the top and sides thereof with weatherproofing material l3,adapted to coact with the door, the margins of which are correspondinglytapered, to prevent the transmission of air between the door and itsopening.

The door illustrated is supported for movements both laterally from andinto its door opening and longitudinally relative to the refrigeratorcar. For this purpose a track [4 is secured to the side of the car l2preferably, though not necessarily, above the door opening H. In theembodiment of the invention shown the track takes the form of a Z-bar l5secured through one vertically positioned flange E5 to the car. The webI! of the track is positioned horizontally and the other flange l8thereof extends downwardly.

The web ll of the track provides a tread upon which the hanger 25 isadapted to be supported for sliding movement through the agency of aroller 2! carried thereby. The hanger 25 extends downwardly on theoutside of the flange I8 and is provided with an inwardly extendingportion 22, carrying a roller 23 adapted to engage the underside of theweb I? to prevent frictional binding between said hanger and the track.A lobe 24 extends downwardly from said hanger and provides support for aswinging arm 25. As best illustrated in Figure 12 of the drawings, saidarm is adapted to be retained upon the lobe 24 by means of a plug 25riveted to the bifurcated ends 21 of the horizontal portion of said armby means of which the arm is assembled with the lobe. As illustrated inFigure 1 0f the drawings preferably two hangers of the characterdescribed are employed with each door.

A plurality of brackets are secured to said door adjacent the upperhorizontal margin thereof. The left hand bracket 28 is adapted tocooperate with the left hand hanger and the right hand bracket 29cooperates with the right hand hanger. The bracket 28 is provided withan attaching portion 30 through which bolts or the like are adapted toextend to secure said bracket to the 'door. Formed preferably integralwith the bracket 28 is a. guideway 3i positioned in a groove 32 providedin the upper margin of the door. The guideway 31 extends at an angle tothe door and is provided with inwardly directed overhanging flanges33--34. The guideway 3| is adapted to receive the free end of thevertical portion of the arm 25, said arm being positioned in saidguideway through the open end 35. The vertical portion of the arm 25 isprovided at its end with an enlargement 36 adapted to be engaged withthe overlapping flanges 33-34, whereby the door is supported by thehanger.

The door bracket 29 is provided with an attaching portion 3! throughwhich said bracket may be secured to the door. The bracket 29 isprovided with a guideway 38 inclined relative to the door similar to theguideway 3| provided on'the bracket 28. The guideway 38 is adapted to bereceived within the groove 39 provided in the upper margin of the doorand receives the lower end of the vertical portion of the arm 25 of thecorresponding hanger in order to support the door therefrom. Theguideway 38 is formed with overhanging flanges 4!] and 4| and the openend 42 thereof, as well as the open end 35 of the guideway 3| may beclosed after assembly with the arms 25 of the hangers 20 so as toprevent disengagement between said arms and said guideways. The bracket28 is provided with a semicylindrical portion 43 and the bracket 29 isprovided with a corresponding portion 44 adapted to receive and retainoperating bars positioned adjacent the opposite vertical margins of thedoor for rotating and sliding movement relative to the door.

Each operating bar 45 comprises preferably a metal pipe member 46 to theopposite ends of which crank portions 471 and 48 are secured. The crankportion secured to the upper end of the bar 45 comprises a verticalmember 49 extending into the pipe 45 and secured thereto as by rivets55. A substantially horizontal member 5|, preferably formed integralwith the member 49, extends therefrom and is provided with a clevis 52having a shank portion 53 extending through an opening 54 provided inthe member 5i and capable of swiveling in said opening. The clevis 52has spaced projections 55 and 56 extending upwardly therefrom, theprojection 55 being longer than the projection 55 for a purpose whichwill appear hereinafter. It is to be observed that the end of the shankportion 53 of the clevis is inclined and that this inclination is thesame as that of the upper margin of the door. The projections 55 and 56are adapted to engage opposite sides of the flange ill of the track I 4,the longer projection 55 lying outwardly of said flange and theprojection 56 lying inwardly of said flange.

The crank portion 45 is secured to the lower end of the operating bar 45by means of a member 51 extending into the pipe 45 as by rivets 58. Ahorizontal member 59 extends from the member 51 and carries a lug 65.The lug 65 on each of the crank portions 48 is adapted in the closedposition of the door to be received within guideways 6l62 formed inkeepers 63-54 secured to the car below the door opening adjacent thelower ends of the bars 45. One side of the horizontal members 59 of thecrank portions 48 is cut away as indicated at 65 for a reason which willappear later.

The operating bar is flattened for a portion of its length and receivedwithin a bracket 65 secured to the door. It is to be understood that thebracket 66 is so designed as to permit both vertical and rotationalmovements of the bar. Pivotally secured to the flattened portion of thebar is an operating lever 57 by means of which the bar may be rotated.One end of the operating lever adjacent its pivotal connection with thebar 45 is bifurcated as clearly shown in Figure 10 of the drawings. Thebifurcated portions 58-69 of the operating lever are in the form of camsadapted to fulcrum upon bearings 18 and 1| supported by the bracket 65.The stationary handle 12 is secured to the door.

To move the door II] from its fully closed position shown in Figure 1 ofthe drawings the latching device 13, which may be of any desiredconstruction, is released and the operating levers 61 swung in asubstantially horizontal plane away from each other. Rotation of theoperating bars 45 is thus efiected and in view of the engagement betweenthe crank portions 41 and 48 of said bars with the track I4 and thekeepers 63-64 the door will be moved laterally partially out of the dooropening H. It is to be observed that during this movement of the doorthe crank portions 41 and 48 will adjust themselves relative to thetrack and the guideways 6l62 formed in the keepers B3-64 to permit thedoor to move bodily parallel to the car. In view of the fact that thelength of the horizontal members 5| and 59 of the crank portions 41 and48 is less than half of the depth of the door opening it will beapparent that the door will not be moved entirely out of the opening.During this lateral movement of the door the hangers 20 will remainstationary upon the track while the arm 25 will adjust itself byswinging substantially through an arc of ninety degrees to permit saidarm to slide along the guideways 3| and 38 provided onthe door-brackets28 and 29. Inasmuch as the operating levers 6'! have been swung duringthis movement ofthe door. through one hundred-andeighty degrees thehorizontal members 5| and 59 of the crank portions 41 and 48' will alsoswing.

through-one hundred and eighty degrees. The position. of the door willthen be as indicated by the dot. and'dash lines in Figure 6 of thedrawings. It will be observed that the arms 25 have moved from the outerendof the guideways of the .door' brackets to the inner end thereof andthat said arms have swung from the initial position illustrated inFigure 4 of the drawings to the position illustrated in Figure 6 of thedrawings. During this movement of the door the projections 55. :and 56of the clevis member 52 remain engaged with the flange 18 of the track Mand the lug 60, and the crank portions 48 lie at the open ends of theguideways 6 I 62 formed in the keepers 63-64.

Upon release of the operating levers 61 they will swing to a verticalposition and depend from their pivotal connection with the operatingbars '45. As the levers assume their vertical position the bifurcatedcam ends thereof move relative to the fillers Tilll upon which they arefulcrumed was to permitlowering of the operating bars 45. The bars arelowered to such an extent that the projection 56 lies below the flangel8- of the track. Upon grasping the stationary handle '12 an outwardforce may be exerted upon the door whereupon said door will swing uponthe arms 25 of the hangers 20 and the movement of the door out-0f itsopening will be completed. The final position of the door is indicatedin full lines in Figure 6 and it will be apparent from this figure thatthe operating bars 45 have moved bodily away from the car. In thisposition of the door it will lie under the shank portion 53 of theclevis member 52 which, as heretofore indicated, is tapered similarly tothe upper margin of the door and by engagement therewithpreventswiveling of said clevis member in the horizontal member 5|. The lugs 60formed on the crank portions 48 will clear the keepers 63E4 during thisoutward swinging movement of the door. In view of the: fact thatthe laststep'in' the outward movement of the door from its opening is efiectedby swinging the arm 25 it it manifest that the door will have alongitudinal displacement relative to the car. This displacement in thefinal movement of the door from its opening is utilized to effectengagement of upper and lower guide brackets 14 and 15, respectively,

one of each of which is illustrated with guideways 16 and TI providedpreferably by means of metallic inserts l8 and lilin the upper and lowermargins, respectively, of the door. may then be moved upon the hangerslongitudinally of the car to open position.

In the closing movement of the door the above defined steps arereversed. The door is moved longitudinally relative to the car, themovement of the door toward closed position being. limited by means of astop 80 secured preferably to the track until the door is positioned infront of the door opening. The door is then forced partially into thedoor opening until it is stopped by engagement between the projection 55on the clevis member 52' and the depending flange H! of the track.During this inward movement of the door into the door openingthehorizontal member 59 of the lower crank portions 48 will clear theadjacent ends of the keepers 6364 because The door.

members. During this movement the door will, of course, swing upon thearms 25 of the hangers. The operating levers 61 are then graspedandmovedfrom their vertical position to a'horizontal position and during thismovement the cams at the bifurcated ends of the levers will fulcrum uponthe fillers 1i) and i! so as to elevate the ofthe: shapeof the portions.65 of the horizontal.

bars and cause the projections 55 and 56 to again engage the flange i8of the track. The 1e-' vers 61 are then swung toward each other intoposition against the door, whereupon the door is completely moved intoits opening. The levers may then be engaged by the fastening device 13.

While, for purposes of illustration, a top supported door has been shownit is clear that the invention is applicable as readily to a bottomsupported door.

Numerous changes and modifications in the details of the structuralembodiment of the invention will be apparent to those skilled'in theart. It is intended, consequently, to comprehend all such changes andmodifications within this invention, which is to be limited only by thescope of the 'claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe received in said opening, a horizontal track secured to said car sidein spaced relation to said door opening, means for supporting said doorfor longitudinal movement upon said track and means comprising arotatable bar for movingsaid door laterally, said bar being providedwith a crank portion embodying a swivel member having projectionsadapted to engage opposite sides of a flangev provided on said track.

2. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe received in said opening, a horizontal track securedto saidcar sidein spaced relation to said door opening,

means for supporting. said door for longitudinal movement upon saidtrack and means comprising a rotatable bar for moving said doorlaterally, said bar being provided with a crank portion embodying aswivel member having projections adapted to engage opposite sides ofaflange provided on said track, the projection adapted to engage theouter side of said flange being longer than the projection adapted toengage the inner side thereof.

3. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe received in said opening, a horizontal track secured to said car sidein spaced relation to said door opening, means for supporting said doorfor longitudinal movement upon said track and means comprising arotatable bar provided with a crank portion embodying a horizontalmember and a ver-' tical member swivelly connected to said horizontalmember and engageable with said track, said crank portion being adaptedfor moving said door laterally, said bar being movable bodily laterallyrelative to said track whereby to effect lateral engagement anddisengagement between said vertical member and said track. 4.. Incombination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted to beseated in said opening, a track secured to said car side in spacedrelation to one of the horizontal margins of said door opening, hangersfor supporting said door for longitudinal movement upon said track,means for moving said door laterally partly from said door opening andmeans provided on said hangers for completing the movement of said doorfrom said opening.

5. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe seated in said opening, a track secured to said car side in spacedrelation to one of the horizontal margins of said door opening, hangersfor supporting said door for longitudinal movement upon said track,means for moving said door bodily parallel to said car side partly fromsaid door opening and means provided on said hangers for swinging saiddoor entirely from said opening.

6. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe seated in said opening, a track secured to said car side in spacedrelation to one of the horizontal margins of said door opening, hangersfor supporting said door for longitudinal movement upon said track,means for moving said door laterally partly from said door opening andmeans provided on said hangers for swinging said door entirely from saiddoor opening.

7. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe seated in said opening, said door being provided with a guideway,guide means secured to said car side, a track secured to said car sidein spaced relation to one of the horizontal margins of said dooropening, hangers for supporting said door for longitudinal movement uponsaid track, means for moving said door laterally partly from said dooropening and means provided on said hangers for swinging said doorentirely from said door opening, said guide means engaging said guidewayin the swinging movement of said door.

8. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe seated in said opening, a track secured to said car side in spacedrelation to one of the horizontal margins of said door opening, hangersfor supporting said door for longitudinal movement upon said track,means comprising an operating bar engaging said track for moving saiddoor laterally partly from said door opening, means for disengaging saidbar from said track and means provided on said hangers for completingthe movement of said door from said opening.

9. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe seated in said opening, a track secured to said car in spacedrelation to one of the horizontal margins of said opening, hangers forsupporting said door for longitudinal movement upon said track, each ofsaid hangers comprising a swingable arm, brackets provided withguideways secured to said door, said arms extending into said guidewaysfor the purpose set forth.

10. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe seated in said opening, a track secured to said car in spacedrelation to one of the horizontal margins of said opening, hangers forsupporting said door for longitudinal movement upon said track, each ofsaid hangers comprising a swingable arm, brackets provided withguideways secured to said door, said arms extending into said guidewaysfor the purpose set forth, said guideways being similarly inclined at anangle relative to said door.

11. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe seated in said opening, a track secured to said car side above theopening, hangers supporting said door for longitudinal movement uponsaid track, vertical operating bars slidably and rotatably retained uponsaid door and provided with crank portions at the ends thereof, keeperssecured to said car above and. below said door engageable with saidcrank portions, lever means operable in a substantially horizontal planefor actuating said bars to move said door laterally partly from saidopening, means for sliding said bars vertically to disengage one of thecrank ends thereof from the corresponding keepers and means provided onsaid hangers for completing the movement of said door from the openingand for disengaging the other of the crank ends from their correspondingkeepers.

12. In a refrigerator car having a door opening, in combination, a dooradapted to be positioned in said opening, means supporting said door forlongitudinal sliding movement relative to said car and means for movingsaid door laterally from said door opening, said means comprising arotatable, vertically reciprocable bar, a lever pivoted to said bar, acam formed on one end of said lever and means provided on said dooradapted to serve as a fulcrum for said cam, whereby swinging movement ofsaid lever in a vertical plane will impart vertical movement to saidbar.

13. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe seated in said opening, and means for imparting lateral movement tosaid door relative to said door opening, said means comprising arotatable bar carried by said door for elevating and lowering movementshaving a member eccentrically mounted for swiveling movement upon oneend thereof, means secured to said car for engagement with said memberin the elevated position of the bar to prevent lateral movement of saidmember relative to said car, said bar in its lowered position beingdisengaged from said means and means for elevating said bar.

14. A railway freight car having a door opening, a track secured to saidcar in spaced relation to one of the horizontal margins of said dooropening, a door, means capable of longitudinal movement upon said trackfor supporting said door and means comprising a rotatable bar forimparting lateral movement to said door, said bar being provided with acrank engageable with said track, said crank being bodily displaceablelaterally for disengagement from said track.

15. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe received in said opening, a horizontal track secured to said car sidein spaced relation to said door opening, means for supporting said doorfor longitudinal movement upon said track and means comprising arotatable bar provided with a crank portion en gaging said track formoving said door laterally, said bar being movable bodily laterallyrelative to said track whereby to efiect lateral engagement anddisengagement between said crank portion and said track.

16. In combination, a car side having a door opening, a door adapted tobe received in said opening, a horizontal track secured to said car sidein spaced relation to said door opening, means for supporting said doorfor longitudinal movement upon said track and means comprising arotatable bar for moving said door laterally, said bar being providedwith a crank portion at one end thereof, said crank portion comprising ahorizontally disposed member, the free end of said horizontally disposedmember carrying a vertically disposed member swivelly mounted therein.

JAMES E. LINDEMAN.

